Blood is Full of Empty Promises

Several days passed since Ayaka was abducted by Hidan and Gaara was starting to lose his mind. He searched everywhere, but saw no signs for her. His only option now was to ask the Hokage for a tracking ninja. He was closer to the leaf village than he was to his own.

Gaara silently cursed himself for being as stupid as to leave the village on his own. If anything he should have taken a shinobi that excelled in tracking. He would have already found Ayaka by now. For all he knew, she could be dead and that scared him more than anything.

Gaara stopped at the gate of the Hidden Leaf village and saw the two gate guards. They looked as if they were getting ready to leave their post and go home. One of them looked up noticing the Kazekage standing at the entrance to the village.

"Lord Kazekage!" he exclaimed and quickly stumbled over himself just to get to Gaara.

"I need to speak with Lady Hokage," Gaara said, his heart racing. He felt like his time was limited. He needed to hurry.

"Yes, yes, right away! I'll take you," he said and escorted Gaara straight to the Hokage's door.

"Come in, Izumo!" Lady Tsunadae said while reading her papers.

"Lady Tsunadae, the Kazekage is here to see you," Izumo replied and quickly left Gaara and the Hokage alone.

"Gaara? What's this about?" she asked and set her papers down. She wore a worried expression on her face. Normally if a Kage came to visit you with no guards and no appointment, it wasn't a good thing.

"I apologize for dropping in Lady Tsunadae, but I've come personally to request a tracking team. I left my own village to find someone before she found the Akatsuki, and I lost the trail. I think they've kidnapped her," Gaara said and looked down at his feet. He clenched his fists tightly. "Or killed her," he finished and looked up to see a surprised expression on the Hokage's face.

"You want a team to track down the Akatsuki?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered and Lady Tsunadae folded her hands in front of her mouth, but then placed them back down and smiled.

"You're in luck, Lord Gaara. I've already placed tracking teams to search for the Akatsuki. You may accompany any of the teams that you wish," she replied.

“Thank you, Lady Tsunadae,” Gaara said and bowed before leaving the room. Gaara rushed to the front gate of the Hidden Leaf and waited for the tracking teams to assemble.

___

Ayaka waited with her hands and feet bound together. Hidan was in a meditating stance for at least three days. Ayaka was hungry beyond belief. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but she was greatly annoyed by the fact that she couldn’t go anywhere.

Hidan shifted and Ayaka straightened. He got up and stretched. “Holy shit! Ahhh I hate sitting down for that long,” he complained and started cracking his neck, followed by his back, and then his fingers.

“Gross,” Ayaka mumbled to herself and Hidan looked over in her direction.

“I almost forgot about you,” he replied and gave her a half smile. Ayaka frowned.

“I’m hungry you asshole,” she said angrily while Hidan walked over to her. He cut the rope on her feet, but left her hands tied together.

“Yeah, yeah, as soon as we meet up with Kakazu we’ll eat and then find another bounty to collect,” Hidan replied and tugged on her rope.

“And stop pulling me around like a dog! I’m not your pet,” Ayaka yelled angrily and pulled at the rope in the opposite direction. Hidan just pulled harder and she fell forward smacking her face onto the ground. “Bastard,” she grumbled and tried to get up.

“Aww come on, hanging out with me isn’t so bad,” Hidan replied and smiled. “Just like old times.”

“I’ll show you old times,” Ayaka growled and kicked Hidan in the back. He flew forward onto the ground. Unfortunately, this backfired on Ayaka and sent her tumbling to the ground as well, on top of Hidan.

“If you wanted to get closer to me all you had to do was ask,” Hidan replied in a husky voice. He was looking down at her lips like he wanted to kiss her.

Ayaka turned her head. “Ewww!” she exclaimed with a disgusted expression on her face.

Hidan laughed and got up. He dusted himself off while Ayaka got to her feet as well. “You’ll come around eventually,” he replied and tugged on the rope forcing Ayaka to walk behind him.

___

All the tracking teams assembled in front of the gate of Kohona. Shikamaru noticed the red headed sand shinobi almost instantly. “Lord Kazekage, what are you doing here?” he asked.

Gaara stepped forward and handed Shikamaru a scroll with Lady Tsunadae’s seal on it. “I’m going to accompany one of your tracking teams. I’m looking for someone who was taken by the Akatsuki,” he replied and Shikamaru took the scroll. He opened it to confirm what Gaara had just told him and nodded. He had a grim look on his face.

“The chances of that person still being alive are slim,” he stated and put his hands over his head and looked up at the sky. He looked deep in thought for a second or two before bringing his arms down to his sides. He looked straight at Gaara. “It would be better off if you stayed with me and my team.”

Gaara nodded. “Whatever you suggest, Nara,” he replied and they all gathered into a formation. Shikamaru briefed the teams about the possible locations of the Akatsuki. He even mentioned and described the girl that Gaara was looking for and ordered them to do whatever necessary to recover her alive.

“Ready to go?” Shikamaru asked his teams as they gathered next to the other teams. His team nodded and each team scattered into a different direction.